San Antonio Symphony News and Archive

Symphony opens season with its troubles behind it

Deal in hand, orchestra opens




By Ihosvani Rodriguez

from the San Antonio Express News 10/3/98



With the swift downbeat of a baton, the symphony was officially unfinished.

About 1,200 music lovers showed up Friday night to attend the 60th season's premiere performance of the San Antonio Symphony at the Majestic Theater.

The debut concert took place just days after the symphony almost went bankrupt and was nearly forced to put down its instruments.

"Believe me, we're glad we're all here," said Peter Flamm, the symphony's timpanist and a member of the committee that hammered out a last-minute, symphony-saving deal Tuesday. "That was an experience I hope to never go through again."

By Friday night, all the tension and negotiations were gone. Houston Street's most artsy sidewalk was filled with the bustle of an eager music crowd.

"There's something magic about being here," Margie Upshaw said. "You follow the news and hope that the end wouldn't happen. It makes everything more special now that it's finally here. Almost a month late, but it's here."

One patron who bought senior citizen tickets for himself and his wife said he was joyful that the symphony wasn't canceled and offered a suggestion for next year.

"They raised the senior citizen's tickets by $2 a couple years too late," Weldon McGee joked. "They should had done it years ago. I would had paid even $5 more if it was necessary. It's worth it."

Fearful of sounding overdramatic, Gloria Monteclaros went on to say anyway that she would have literally died if the symphony was canceled.

"I was trying to watch concerts on (public television), but it doesn't compare to watching it live," said Monteclaros, a symphony patron since 1971. "I am not joking when I tell you that I cried when I heard the symphony was saved."

Also glad to be part of Friday night's event was Joy Hodges, no longer the world's most nervous horn player. She learned there probably wasn't going to be an orchestra just days after moving to San Antonio to take her place in the symphony.

"The feeling was not good," the former New Yorker said. "I even had to take a temp job at a law office. What was I going to do after moving from so far away?"

Yet, it wasn't just musicians and music afficionados who were happy that the symphony was back.

Carlos Gomez, who has been a security guard at the Majestic the past nine years, said the symphony's premiere put an end to what was shaping up to be a long dull summer for him.

"I even shaved my mustache and fixed part of my house," he said. "I was getting bored and scared. If the symphony isn't here, neither would I."

Friday's performance included Beethoven's Symphony No. 8, the "Creatures of Prometheus" Overture and the Piano Concerto No. 3 with soloist Max Levinson.

A second performance is scheduled for 8 tonight.

Tickets are $13-$46. Starting each night, unsold seats for the evening's concert will be offered at $9 to high school and college students, senior citizens and military personnel.



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